Information For Authors

Interested in submitting to this journal? We recommend that you review the About the Journal page for the journal's section policies, as well as the Author Guidelines. Authors need to register with the journal prior to submitting or, if already registered, can simply log in and begin the five-step process.

About JNMAJournal of Nepal Medical Association is an internationally peer-reviewed, MedLine/PubMed indexed, a general medical journal of Nepal Medical Association. JNMA is the first and oldest medical journal from Nepal since 1963 AD. JNMA is available at PubMed, DOAJ, Google Scholar, Index Copernicus, EBSCO, EMBASE and other repositories. JNMA abide by:1. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors for Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals2. World Association of Medical Editors for best editorial practice3. Council of Science Editors for best editorial practice3. Committee on Publication Ethics for practising good publication ethicsYou can also view our author guideline (printed version) from HERE [You need to have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer]

The Editorial Process JNMA follows the principles of COPE, CSE, WAME, ICJME, DOAJ, OASPA guidelines. The submitted manuscripts are duly acknowledged and initially reviewed for possible publication by the Editors with the understanding that they are being submitted only to the JNMA, have not been published, simultaneously submitted or accepted for publication elsewhere.

Rejection:More than 95% of the submitted manuscript is rejected by the preliminary in-house review process, mostly due to lack of JNMA format [to avoid preliminary rejection, please go through submission guideline in detail, follow them strictly and prepare your manuscript accordingly]. On average, 40-60% of the manuscripts with insufficient originality or insignificant message, serious scientific and technical flaws are rejected after peer review. However, we do encourage the author to resubmit after the revision if the research was conducted scientifically. The preliminary rejection of the manuscript is related to; manuscript being out of scope, manuscript not formatted correctly, not following checklist and guidelines accurately, submission below publishable standards, incomplete submission (e.g. lack of ethical approval letter for research article). The rejection could also be due to lack of originality, flaws in the METHODS section, generalising and exaggerating the finding not supported by internal and external validity, peer reviewers' comment not adequately answered or unanswered, plagiarism, publication misconduct and more. While declining the submission, we do not make comment on each aspect of the manuscript but give the reason for inadequate JNMA formatting, which means one or all of the above reasons. If you follow the JNMA guideline in detail, you will find out the reason for the rejection. If you fail to pinpoint, we request you to consult a modern epidemiologist, methodologist, or medical statistician. Therefore, we request you to go through the author guideline in detail to avoid rejection of your submission.

We truly value your hard work and wish to publish most of the submissions to the JNMA. However, as we stated earlier, we follow the principles of COPE, CSE, WAME, ICJME, DOAJ, OASPA guidelines. Hence, we have to maintain the highest standard of scientific values in our work. Therefore, we urge you to help us to improve science together. We hope that the rejection of your current submission will not deter you to continue submitting your work to the JNMA.

Publication and Decision Time: Time to first decision overall (average) within 7-10 days for initial decision (without review); 60 days (with the review). Those articles which have been submitted six months to a year ago undergo auto-pruning (automatic declining). It happens due to one of the following reasons i) to iii) or due to loss of contact with the authors.

If you find encounter delay and find no update on your JNMA submission account, which could be due to;i) submission was incomplete or ii) submission was without following JNMA format and supplementary documents or iii) there is an issue with your submission (e.g. ethical issues or research misconduct or related)Because of any of the above issues or any other reasons, if you do not receive any information or update about your submission within 2-4 weeks, please contact JNMA as soon as possible. We will make sure that your voice is heard and addressed appropriately.

N.B. Please do not contact on personal email, social media or phone number to Editor-in-Chief, Editorial team or JNMA staff related to your submission. All communication must be made via JNMA official email address only. JNMA best editorial practice ensures that it publishes the highest standard articles.

The Peer Review ProcessThe manuscripts are then sent to two expert peer reviewers blinded to the contributor’s identity and vice versa for meticulous review, inputs and comments. The final decision on whether to accept or reject the article are taken by the Editor-in-Chief based on editorial board and peer reviewers. The contributors are informed about the rejection/acceptance of the manuscript with the peer reviewer’s comments. Accepted articles have to be resubmitted after making the necessary changes or clarifying questions made during the peer review process.The accepted articles are edited for grammatical, punctuation, print style and format errors and page proofs and are sent to the corresponding author who should return them within three days. Non-response to galley proof may result in the delay of publication or even rejection of the article.

Required Guidelines and Checklist

JNMA requires the use of an appropriate reporting guideline when writing any health research manuscript.

You must submit a completed checklist for the relevant guideline (and flow diagram if applicable) alongside your manuscript, indicating the manuscript page on which each checklist item is found. Editable checklists for reporting guidelines can be found here or on the EQUATOR Network site, which also gives general information on how to choose the correct guideline and why guidelines are important. Using a checklist helps to ensure you have used a guideline correctly.

At the minimum, your article must report the content addressed by each item of the identified checklist or state that the item was not considered in the study and, if relevant, the reason why not (for example, if you did not use blinding, your article should explain this). Meeting these basic reporting requirements will greatly improve the value of your manuscript, may facilitate/enhance the peer review process, and may enhance its chances for eventual publication.

Checklists are not simply an administrative hurdle. We ask you to complete a checklist because this helps you to check that you have included all of the important information in your article and because it helps our editors and reviewer to complete the same check. If the checklist indicates an item that you have not addressed in your manuscript, please either explain in the manuscript text why this information is not relevant to your study or add the relevant information.

Authors must check the EQUATOR Network, CONSORT and STROBE sites for any reporting guidelines that apply to your study design and ensure they include any required supporting information recommended by the relevant guidelines. Documentation (checklist) for specific studies should be uploaded as supporting information during manuscript submission.

Guidelines for Specific Study TypesSome common study types and the appropriate guidelines are listed below. If you cannot find an appropriate guideline here, search the full EQUATOR database and talk to our editor.

You may need to use more than one guideline, depending on your research. For example, if you randomly assigned human participants to one of two interventions, then conducted unstructured interviews with each participant, you will need to use CONSORT, COREQ, and TIDIER together. To make sure you collect all of the relevant guidelines, check each major heading, even if you have already found a relevant guideline under a previous major heading.

If you are reporting a protocol- Use the SPIRIT guideline for the protocol of a clinical trial- Use the PRISMA-P guideline for the protocol of a systematic review

If you are reporting a review of a section of the existing literature- Use the ENTREQ guideline for a review of studies that use descriptive data, such as unstructured interviews (qualitative data)- Use the MOOSE guideline for a review of observational studies- Use the PRISMA guideline for any other kind of systematic review or meta-analysis

If you are reporting on animal research- Use the ARRIVE guideline for research on animals in a lab- Use the REFLECT guideline for research on livestock

If you are reporting descriptive data (either alone or alongside quantitative data)- Use the COREQ guideline for reporting unstructured interviews and focus groups- Use the CARE guideline for reporting one case study or a series of case studies, (SCARE for surgical case report)- Use the SRQR guideline for any other descriptive data (qualitative research)

If you are reporting research into diagnosis- Use the STARD guideline if you compared the accuracy of a diagnostic test with an established reference standard test- Use the REMARK guideline if you evaluated the prognostic value of a biomarker-Use the TRIPOD guideline if you developed, validated, or updated a prognostic or diagnostic prediction modelling tool.

If you are reporting research into an intervention or treatment on people- Use the TIDIER guideline to fully describe your intervention- Use the CHEERS guideline for an economic evaluation of the interventions

If you are reporting research into an intervention, treatment, exposure, or protective factor on people- Use the CARE guideline for reporting one case study or a series of case studies, (SCARE for surgical case report)- Use the CONSORT guideline or one of its extensions: If you selected your participants before they received the intervention/exposure/etc. under study, AND You controlled which intervention/exposure/etc. they each received, AND You used a random allocation method to decide which intervention/exposure/etc. they each received.ie: a randomised controlled trial

Use the STROBE guideline or one of its extensions:- If you selected your participants after they received the intervention/exposure/etc. under study, OR- You selected your participants before they received the intervention/exposure/etc. under study AND you did not control which intervention/exposure/etc. they received (they decided/their doctor decided/life just happened) ie: an observational study (cross-sectional, case-control, cohort)

Use the TREND guideline:- If you selected your participants before they received the intervention/exposure/etc. under study, AND- If CARE , CONSORT, and STROBE are not applicable to your research AND- You used a non-random way to decide which intervention/exposure/etc. your participants received, such as which hospital they went to or what their clinical symptoms were. ie: a non-randomised trial

Clinical TrialsJNMA follows the World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition of a clinical trial:"a clinical trial is any research study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on health outcomes. Clinical trials may also be referred to as interventional trials. Interventions include but are not restricted to drugs, cells and other biological products, surgical procedures, radiologic procedures, devices, behavioural treatments, process-of-care changes, preventive care, etc."

Registering Clinical TrialsAll clinical trials submitted to JNMA must be entered in a publicly accessible registry approved by the WHO or ICMJE. See the list of approved registries.JNMA consider prospective trial registration (that is, registration before participant enrollment has begun) to be best publication practice, as recommended by the ICMJE. Clinical trials that began to enrol participants before ICMJE recommendations took effect on July 1, 2005 may be retrospectively registered, if trial registry accepts.

AUTHOR GUIDELINESFocus and ScopeJNMA invites original research papers, review articles, case reports, medical education, viewpoints letter to the editor containing new insight into any aspect of Medical & Health Science that are not published or not being considered for publication elsewhere. The journal is particularly interested in and welcomes papers in basic and clinical medical sciences, medical education, public health, hospital and healthcare management, research and publication ethics, too.

EDITORIALIt is written by JNMA editors or invited (Guest Editorial) on most pertinent issues on Health in Nepal or in the world. It undergoes a fast-track peer review process.

CASE REPORTSThis section includes report of a case with literature review that includes, an unexpected association between diseases or symptoms, an unexpected event in the course of observing or treating a patient, findings that shed new light on the possible pathogenesis of a disease or an adverse effect, unique or rare feature of a disease, unique therapeutic approaches, approaches to a case report, a patient whose diagnosis was difficult to make, describe changes in one or more patients with chronic conditions over an extended time period, report on two or more patients with similar characteristics who received different interventions and had different outcomes, atypical management of patients with common problems, atypical patient presentations, apply theory to patient or client management, report on an administrative or academic experience. Please use the CARE Case Report Checklist while preparing your case report taking an account of CARE Flow Diagram.Case report provides an opportunity for the scientist to work further therefore, we are interested in advance medical science and spawn research; describe rare, perplexing, or novel diagnostic features of a disease state; report therapeutic challenges, controversies, or dilemmas; describe a new approach to treatment and patient care, teach humanistic lessons to the health care professional; review a unique job description of a health care professional that improves patient care; report new medical errors or medication errors; discover a device malfunction that results in patient harm; describe drug adverse effects and patient toxicity; life-threatening adverse events; dangerous and predictable adverse effects that are poorly appreciated and rarely recognized; a therapeutic failure or a lack of therapeutic efficacy; use of life-saving techniques not previously documented; uncover barriers to patient adherence; discover an interaction between a drug and a laboratory test that yields a false-positive or false-negative result; effect of drugs in pregnancy and lactation; use of technology to improve patient outcomes. It undergoes a peer review process. Please download the Case Report Consent Form, get a written consent and put the original on the patient chart and provide a copy of it during your submission. Required Submission Documents: 1. Forwarding Letter, 2. Authorship, 3. Declaration, 4. Manuscript (in JNMA template using CARE or SCARE reporting guideline), 5. A copy case report consent form, 6. CARE Checklist.

REVIEW ARTICLEReview article summarises the current state of understanding on a topic and analyses or discusses research previously published by others on the subject matter, rather than reporting new experimental results and which does not fit into the category of systematic review. They are thorough literature reviews that identify historical and current trends in the topic, gaps in the research (areas for further exploration), and current debates or controversies. It has to be about 3000 words without counting abstract (200 words) and references (>50 and usually <100). It undergoes a rigorous peer review process. Required Submission Documents: 1. Forwarding Letter, 2. Authorship, 3. Declaration, 4. Manuscript (in JNMA template using authors' guideline)

LETTER TO THE EDITOR The section includes a reaction and issue relating to WJHS, be it a comment relating a recent article, an elaboration of an important discovery, or simply a thought-provoking commentary of fewer than 1000 words without an abstract.Required Submission Documents: 1. Forwarding Letter, 2. Authorship, 3. Declaration, 4. Manuscript (in JNMA template using authors' guideline)

PEER REVIEW PROCESSThe Chief Editor, together with the editorial board will ensure the following peer review policy:1. Double-blind: The manuscript will be blinded when sending out for review. The author is anonymous to the reviewer and the reviewer is anonymous to the author as well.2. One-stage review: The reviewer is involved in the initial review of the manuscript only, i.e. not involved in evaluating the revisions made by the author based on the reviewer’s comments. Rather, the Chief Editor carries the manuscript forward following the initial review.3. In rare, controversial and special circumstances; Two-stage review: Those papers that require revision as suggested by the reviewer will be sent back to that same reviewer for him/her to evaluate the manuscript once again after revised re-submission from the author.

The author has to submit their manuscript according to JNMA section policy.- All submitted article will undergo international peer review with blinding for two peer reviewers, simultaneously. If the decision conflicts between the two, it will be sent to a third peer reviewer.- The typical review will take minimum 4-6 weeks which includes 2 weeks for peer review and remaining weeks for peer review handling process. However, this may take a little longer due to unseen workloads.- When the article is received from peer reviewer there will be one of the following outcomes and the decision choices include:Accept Submission: The submission will be accepted without revisions.Revisions Required: The submission will be accepted after minor changes have been made according to the reviewer's comment.Resubmit for Review: The submission needs to be re-worked, but with significant changes, may be accepted. It will require a second round of review, however.Resubmit elsewhere: When the submission does not meet the focus and scope of JNMA.Decline Submission: The submission will not be published in the journal.

All comments received from the reviewers will be passed on to the authors within 4-6 weeks after getting back from the reviewers. Regardless of whether or not the submission is accepted for publication, it is essential that appropriate feedback is provided to the contributors.JNMA respect the views, opinion, comments and decision of the reviewer. However, the right for acceptance and rejection of the manuscript is reserved with the Chief Editor, on the basis of maintaining the integrity of the science, following the guideline of ICJME, WAME, CSE, COPE.The editors will be responsible for directing the manuscripts to the appropriate reviewers who have the knowledge and/or expertise in the requisite fields. Each manuscript will be accepted (sometimes on a conditional basis pending suggested changes) or declined based on the reviewers' comments, and other factors by Chief Editor's decisions. In the case of a controversial groundbreaking article that could have a far-reaching impact on the field, further reviews may be sought. The decision ultimately rests with the chief editor.Peer Reviewers will be provided with Review Guidelines, once they accept to review the submission. JNMA will rate reviewers on a five-point quality scale after each review.

SUBMISSION DOCUMENTSPlease submit all the following documents while submitting your new manuscript to JNMA:1. Forwarding letter2. Authorship3. Declaration4. Manuscript5. Ethical Approval letter*6. Conflict of Interest (Please download the ICJME Form)*This is for research article only. Ethical approval letter should be taken before starting the research. Any research without ethically approved by recognised ethical review board is of no value. The Ethical Review Board of Nepal Health Research Council is the apex body for looking after the ethics in research in Nepal. However, ERB has established institutions review committee in most of the medical college, tertiary care centre hospitals and research centre throughout the country. If you do not belong to such IRC centres, please contact ERB, NHRC for ethical approval of your research. For international author - please provide ethical approval letter from your institutional ethical committee or national body responsible for ethics in research. Any submission without the above documents and manuscript not in JNMA format will be rejected outright. Therefore to avoid such errors and rejection, please submit your article with all supplementary and required files along with the use of appropriate template given below.

Added DocumentsPlease go through JNMA checklist, template and supplementary files during the preparation of r your manuscript. We use Vancouver style for references, please use the guidance available at CITING MEDICINE citing materials accurately. Use of incorrect, inappropriate citation and erroneous bibliographic listing may possibly invalidate your manuscript at JNMA.1. JNMA Checklist (must read)

MUST HAVE INFORMATIONTo minimise the rejection (or return for revision) of your article please do the followings:

All the documents have to be submitted at once in single submission (as listed above).

Please use the appropriate template for your manuscript to avoid error in the heading and subheadings.

Please address all the point described in the template, JNMA checklist, references and manuscript preparation guidelines etc.

Please do not submit the article that we do not publish (check author guideline for a different type of article we accept).

If you have difficulty working on the computer or not good at it particularly Microsoft word document, please seek a professional help to prepare your manuscript according to our need.

Email is the preferred methods of communication, therefore, please check your email once a day after you submit an article to JNMA. We will inform you about the status of your article through our system to the email you at your mail ID which you have provided during REGISTRATION to JNMA. We may also contact you anytime for immediate information to speed up the review process.

Please do not contact editorial member's personal telephone numbers but JNMA office. If you have more queries, please contact us anytime. Help us to help you by providing the required information as described on this page.